re: #156 ralphieboy

I lived in two neighborhoods in Gary, Indiana that turned over from all-white to predominantly black within months over “blockbusting” tactics: white people fled in panic as soon as the first blacks moved in.

In each case, my mom, a widower, could not afford to join the flight right away, so we stuck it out and noticed a pattern. The first black family to move in was every white families’ nightmare: unruly kids, straying dogs, a sudden rise in bicycle thefts, tire marks on neighbors lawns and wine bottles discarded about the neighborhood.

All the susbequent families turned out to be fine folks and nice neighbors.

But the real estate company had turned over an entire block, probably making record profits, in less than a year.

And I well imagine it is people like those who fled those neighborhoods in terror who still live in fear of “the n*** taking over” (I noticed that LGF automatically amends the n-word withou me even having to do so) are the very folks who have a visceral loathing of Obama and are very susceptible to the only slightly hidden racist undertones of people like Beck and Palin.

diversity is a concept that gets a bad rap. embracing it is essential for survival in the 21st century.